Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 takes place approximately two decades since the first Red Alert and, unlike the original, has no relation at all to the Tiberium universe. It is a conventional real-time strategy game which, in terms of gameplay, still faithfully continues the Dune/Command & Conquer lineage.

Although the Western Allies have installed a lackey as the Premier of the Soviet Union, their spies and relevant contacts suddenly go silent with the appearance of a powerful Soviet psychic named Yuri, who turns out to be Premier Romanov's advisor. Soon afterwards, the Soviet Union launches an overwhelming invasion on North America and Europe on land, air, and sea. As is usual, the player joins the Allied or Soviet side in the singleplayer campaign (with 12 missions for each faction) as of that point in the storyline. Whereas the technology level in the original Red Alert had World War II and Cold War-era weapons mixed with a few technologies inspired by failed real-world experiments, the arsenals of both sides in Red Alert 2 predominantly include technologically advanced units and structures such as teleporting Chrono Legionnaires, chain-connecting Prism towers, cloning vats, weather control devices, etc. However, the storyline's tone is considerably more light-hearted than that in previous Command & Conquer games, and following in the footsteps of Tiberian Sun, more known actors were brought to act in the full-motion video cutscenes.